Strange Magic
by Merovingian
Summary: Various bizarre FateStay Night oneshots.
1. Games People Play

**I don't own Fate/Stay Night.**

The phone rang several times before Shirou picked it up. His eyes were bleary from an uneasy, tormented sleep. He looked like hell. His hand trembled from too much coffee and his gritty voice cracked.

"H-hello?"

"Mr. Emiya..." It was the police officer, Matsui, who was in charge of the investigation. Shirou could tell right away from the man's voice that he did not have good news.

"Yes?"

"We found her."

Shirou had been expecting this call from the first day. He had practiced several things he might say in response, but he was drawing a blank now, managing to merely sputter out an "oh".

"I'm sorry," the cop said softly, "but you should probably come down to see this."

Shirou mangled a word or two of acceptance and hung up. He rose from the couch and prepared to leave. He put on a jacket and walked past the kitchen, where Rin, Sakura, and Ilya were watching something on television. It wouldn't be right to disturb their peace now; they would find out soon enough.

He closed the door softly behind him and headed out into the chilly autumn afternoon. The sun was waning on the horizon, and a cicada was off somewhere singing sadly, echoing the young man's own emotions. It was time to see his Fuji-nee again... or rather, what was left of her.

----

Blood. There was blood everywhere. Shirou was frozen in place, clutching the police tape in front of him. He didn't even want to step over it, something was holding him back, probably his own fear, or fury. Suddenly he noticed something sparkling on the ground a few yards away. He made his way over to it and picked it up.

It lay next to the lifeless hand, now outstretched and sitting in the dirt, completely detached from its corresponding arm. Shirou could barely stomach the whole grisly scene, but he grimly bent down and picked up the object. He held it up to his hand. It was a little gold ring, with a simple geometric design around the band. He pocketed it, and moved on.

It was several years later when Shirou found out something of interest about that ring. He was at the library to pick something up for Ilya and he had wandered over to the history section on a whim. In a book about ancient civilizations he came across a picture of an archaeological site. A smiling American man held several pieces of jewelry he had dug up. A close-up showed that one of those items was a ring which looked very much like the one he had found. Shirou swallowed hard as he read the caption:

"This ancient jewelry, believed to be from the Uruk period, was unearthed in Iraq three years ago, and likely belonged to a wealthy Sumerian family or, if Dr. Williams' theory is correct, the king himself."


	2. Welcome Back

Shirou couldn't believe who he was seeing at his front door. 

"T-T-Tohsaka?!"

She looked very much the same as she had nine years ago: tall, athletic, and glamorous. Her hair was out of its usual twin ponytails, instead flowing in one unbroken waterfall down the back of her coat. She was a little more curvaceous in some places than Shirou remembered, and it certainly wasn't lost on him.

She scoffed. "Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?"

"Oh! Ah, no, no, please come in," he moved around to let her in. She walked into the foyer carrying a briefcase. Shirou looked outside, where there were several large suitcases. He shook his head but closed the door to attend to Rin.

"Can I get you some tea?" he asked, already on his way to the kitchen.

"Sure, whatever." She followed him and sat down at the kotatsu. She carefully set the briefcase beside her.

He brought in the tea set and poured two cups. He fingered his nervously; she didn't touch hers. Instead, she examined her nails. It was a tense moment.

"Wow, it's been so long... what, uh, what brings you back to town?" he asked, trying to break the ice.

"It was time to come back," she said vaguely. Shirou nodded as if he understood. Rin smiled inwardly; he always tried so hard to please. "Guess I should get right to business," she declared, putting the briefcase on the tabletop.

"Business?"

She made no response as she opened case and took out something wrapped in tissue paper.

"A souvenir?" Shirou asked innocently.

Rin snorted and brought the item into Shirou's line of sight. "Not quite..."

"A bone?!" he cried. It was a jawbone.

"Technically, yes," she said matter-of-factly, "but under certain circumstances, it is also a summoning Artifact."

Shirou stared up at Rin in anger. "You can't be serious! Summoning a Servant! You want to start another war?!"

Without losing her composure, a feat for the woman, she got very close to his face. "You mean you don't want to see Arturia again?"


	3. I Want to Break Free

Shirou awakes from a strange dream of harsh light and unsettling sounds. Not quite a nightmare, but unpleasant to say the least. He looks outside, where it is still dark out, maybe three in the morning. He lies down again and closes his eyes to relax. 

A few moments later he hears a strange sound off in the distance. He becomes annoyed as he notices that it isn't going away. He gets out of bed and goes to the window, which he opens to try to hear what is going on. He focuses, and observes that it is getting closer. It began as a drone, and now it is a roar. He realizes that it is the sound of water, a great amount of water at that. A general curse is in order, and he delivers.

He shuts the window and backs away from it. Now he is fully awake. He knows it will take too much time to try to get to higher ground outside, so he takes his chances in the attic. He is gripping a dirty wooden beam as the front of the tsunami, having already swept through downtown Fuyuki, barrels into the Emiya residence.

The rushing water just below the little attic door is deafening, and the entire structure vibrates. He hears a window break and the water keeps goes on and on. Finally, the sound tapers off. He can hear the water flowing around his house, back to the ocean. He is about to open the attic door when the house falls in.

The chaos occurs in what seems like only a moment. Shirou tumbles out of the attic like a discarded ragdoll. He falls into a pool of dirty water that was once his bedroom, and on top of him falls a section of the roof. It traps him at the waist and knocks the breath out of him, which is particularly bad, seeing as how it is now holding him under the standing water. Panicked, he struggles to get above the waterline, but his torso refuses to move far enough. The pain is terrible, and the saltwater digs into his wounds. Without the water he might be able to trace something to pry the wood off of him, but just being able to breathe is more important now.

He is failing. He is running out of air. Something floating comes at him, striking his side. Stunned, he ceases his fight. It is useless. The water begins to flow out of the room through the break in the wall, but it is also entering his lungs, drowning him from the inside out. He no longer claws at his throat; his arms drift lazily at his sides, jerked by the occasional involuntary spasm.

Soon he feels the night air on his face, but he cannot move his chest to breathe. It feels nice anyway. He is losing consciousness now, and for the first time since the ordeal began his thoughts turn to those he loves. He puts away his need for self-preservation. It, too, has returned to the sea.

_Rin.  
Sakura.  
Ilya.  
Fuji-nee... Are they alright? Please... let them be alright.  
I'm sorry... sorry I couldn't make it.  
I'll see them... again... some day... some... day..._


	4. Arrow

I am the Servant, so I must fight.  
I am the Archer; I am strong. I must win. 

My Master is good, and I fight for her.  
My Master cannot fight, so I fight for her.

I have thrown away my original ideals for my Master.  
I must only focus on victory.  
Nobody will stop me from this victory.  
Nobody deserves it more than my Master.  
She cannot fight, but the other Masters can.

The Grail will allow her to fight on her own again. I wish to see that day very much.  
The Grail will allow her to stand up again. That is the most precious thing.

My Master was hurt; it was an unforseen accident. It changed everything.  
Now my purpose is different. I no longer wish to erase that old image of myself.  
Now I can only think of defeating his Servant, and the others.

When she replenishes my mana, I do all of the work. She lies there and looks up at me.  
I know she still has great power of her own, deep below those glazed eyes and that slack, drooling mouth.

Soon my Master will rise from her seat. Soon she will speak again. Soon she can take off her bandages and throw them away.  
Then I will be able to leave. Then I will be happy.


	5. Bark at the Moon

I can see you.  
I can see you all, and I know everything.  
But there is one thing that I specialize in seeing, one thing that I see better than anyone else. I see your fears. 

Shirou Emiya, is it? Yes, that's right. You know, I saw your father on more than one occasion. He was an interesting man, tough and inscrutable. It's a shame he had to die, and not even at my hands at that, a true shame. You, my boy, do not hide your fear. Instead, you use it to spur you on, as a reason to fight. How very noble, I must say. That is a good strategy. But, of course, I have seen you fight, several times, in fact, during the fifth Heaven's Feel. Your biggest weakness is your recklessness. So if I take that into consideration with your fears, your defeat is assured. What do you fear? Helplessness... loneliness... those are rather mundane, to be quiet honest. You really are a simple little boy.

Ahhh, if it isn't the lovely and talented Rin Tohsaka. A few of your relatives I have picked off. You wouldn't know that, though. But you know, it is so very satisfying to take down mages. To see their powers rendered utterly useless... it makes me gleeful. I feel that it will be much the same with you. The look of shock on your face, that's what you fear, right? That distinct lack of power. How those people around you will mourn or, perhaps, laugh.

Here is another heavy hitter, Ms. Illyasviel von Einzbern. How does it feel to not have that big brute of a Servant to protect you? It is all too easy to see how you fear each day without him. You try to hide it, sure, but I've seen what happens when somebody surprises you; you start like a little spider. I'll make sure I finish off Shirou and Rin first; killing them if front of your very eyes should reduce you to a quivering mass. Heck, killing you might not even be necessary. I've got nothing against lifelong mental damage.

And finally, I can see you, Sakura Matou. You are different, and that's exciting. The only thing you cherish, other than that miserable young man, is your control. I know how hard you fight, to take the abuse, to keep the peace, to be a good girl. That will all end, for you, my dear, will lose control. You will be the tool I use to kill Emiya and Tohsaka. Will they have the resolve to fight back against you? Tohsaka is your sister, you know. That's funny. Either they or you will die... and then I shall kill whoever survives.

The sun is inching up over the horizon now. You can all wake up and live another peaceful day. I'll keep watching you all, but I'm afraid you won't be able to see me, not in a million years. I won't sit here peacefully outside this house forever, though, because the night will come again. And tonight is my night. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mine. It's mineitsmineitsmineitsmineitsmineitsmineitsmineitsmineITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINEITSMINE--

Ahem! Excuse me.


	6. Hold Your Head Up

It's so hard to get a full night's sleep. I wake up so often, afraid that she will be coming in again. Sometimes it is nothing but my own fear, but other times, maybe twice a week, I can dimly see her figure in my room, in front of the door. I shut my eyes, pretending I am still asleep. She walks over to my still form... and it happens.

She pulls my bedcover aside and puts her hand into my pajama bottoms. I can't stop my body from responding the way it does to her touch. Sometimes she uses her hand, sometimes her mouth. She has a wad of tissue paper in her back pocket to clean up when it is over.

It doesn't hurt, but I don't want it. I am only nine years old. I just want to be able to sleep the whole night through.

She knows I am awake, but I do my best not to respond, for fear that anything I do will make her stay longer. I don't want that.

I know that what she does is not right, but I am too scared to say anything. I would be an immediate outcast, a freak. My friends... what would they think?

And... I don't want to get her in trouble. Deep down, I don't hate her at all. She has otherwise taken good care of me. It's just this one thing that is bad.

I had to write this down. Somebody has to hear me, even if it's a piece of paper. I will bury this piece of paper in the backyard, and she will never see it.

I hope she stops it when I am older. Then I will not be afraid anymore. When I am older... then I can break her heart. But until then, I will be a good boy. I will be Fuji-nee's good boy. 


	7. Woman in Chains

We pause for a moment in front of the door, looking through the little window. Rin is in there, sitting up in a big Western-style bed made of metal. There is a pad of paper in her lap, and at least two dozen cheap wax crayons are strewn about on top the bed sheets. She is drawing intently, gripping an orange crayon with sure purpose. Her face is a portrait of concentration, focused yet peaceful.

I open the door gently and gradually, so as not to surprise her. The doctor says she reacts terribly to surprises. Still, when she hears a hand on the doorknob she jerks her head up. It takes a moment to recognize us, and then she smiles. She clumsily attempts to neaten up the bed. She tries to gather the crayons and stuff them back into the box. Several fall to the ground and roll away.

"Rin," I say, coming over to her with Sakura and Ilya in tow, "it's okay, you don't have to clean this stuff up."

Rin stops and looks up at me warily.

"I... Fu... Fuji..."

I put my hand on her shoulder and look into her eyes. They seem so uneasy and shallow.

"It's okay," I repeat, "we just wanted to visit you today."

She nods slowly, digesting it and then smiling again. Sakura, Ilya, and I take three plastic chairs from the corner of the room and sit in a semi-circle facing Rin's bed. She looks better than the last time I saw her, but she seems so frail in her thin, white hospital gown. Her long, dark hair is everywhere in tangles, and it's dull from harsh shampoo. She seems not to care about her chaotic appearance.

I try not to draw attention to myself examining her. I know we probably have limited time with her today, so I try to get some conversation started.

"How are you today, Rin?" I ask. Ilya and Sakura look at her as if she is the center of their universe.

Rin smiles at us and nods.

"O... okay..."

"That's good. Are the doctors nice?"

She nods.

"I think so, too. Are you eating enough?"

She thinks this one through a bit... and then shrugs her shoulders.

"Uh... food..."

"You don't like it?"

She shakes her head.

"I understand."

She smiles, and then her attention turns to Sakura.

"Sa..." Rin blushes, unable to go on. Sakura leans in a little, and Rin slowly wraps her arms around the other girl. Sakura looks a little surprised; Rin wasn't nearly this forward the last time. She looks questioningly at me, and I shrug. Rin has a smile on her face; why not? Sakura understands, and carefully moves her own hands around Rin's sides. The peace is beautiful.

We spend a little more time with Rin before I see a nervous doctor at the door. I nudge Ilya and Sakura. They understand, and we prepare to leave, slowly so that Rin has time to acknowledge it. I pat the girl on her head, and tell her that we'll see her in a few days. She has an uneasy smile on her face, and tears in her eyes. We turn to leave.

We are at the door when there is a slight tugging at my sleeve. I turn around to see Rin, standing, clutching my shirtsleeve.

"Rin, I'm--"

"Fu-Fu... for you!"

And she gives me a piece of paper folded in half.

"Thank you, Rin," I say before even having looked at it. She nods sweetly and turns to return to the bed. I put the paper in my purse and we leave with waving hands and blown kisses. Her eyelids look heavy as the doctor steps into the room and sees us off.

Outside of the hospital, Ilya asks to see the paper, and I capitulate. I unfold it. It is a wonderful crayon drawing. Sakura and Ilya crowd in on either side of me to get their own good looks at it. The marks are thick and strong; a lot of love has gone into this. I see a row of figures standing outside the Emiya house: myself, wielding my old shinai; Ilya, with brilliant ruby-red eyes; Sakura, with a divinely serene smile and holding a plate of food; and Rin herself, rather plain. And then I see one more figure, right beside Rin. I see that the Rin stick-figure is looking at him intently, lovingly. He has simple clothing; a firm, fair face; and messy, bright orange hair.

From this simple drawing... I know she is still mourning. I put my hand to my mouth. 


	8. Back in Time

A female figure stands at the center of a brilliantly red glowing circle. Darkness surrounds her. In one arm she grips a heavy, ancient text. The other is stretched outward, as if reaching for someone. Long, toned legs rise up from the floor. Her eyes are closed in intense concentration. Hair flies in all directions, moved by an unseen, unnatural wind that ruffles her elegant clothing. 

A long chant is spoken. She reads from the book. A drop of her own blood trickles through the fingers of her hand, now a fist. It falls to the circle, and there is suddenly a great change. Another circle rises from the floor and contours to her body. She opens her eyes at the correct moment and completes the recitation in a booming voice. The second circle reaches her head and expands in all directions. There is something like a rumbling around her, and she sees only bright red light. Then, there is an explosion in a different room. She is thrown the floor, landing on her butt.

She gets to her feet and runs to the source of the sound. It was behind a certain door; she breaks it down.

Inside the room she can see him, standing alert, wearing dark armor and looking at her as if he was waiting.

He is holding a sword. He steps forward and holds it out toward her.

"I ask... are you my Master?"

She folds her arms and smiles. Sir Bedivere comes running up behind her.

"My king...?"

"It's alright, Bedivere," Arturia says out of the corner of her mouth. She steps forward to come face to face with her Servant. He has deep caramel eyes, a mop of orange hair, a stern face that does not flinch when she gets close. He is young, but she can see that he is in good shape.

"Is this... your Servant?" Bedivere asks.

"Yes, this is the one who will help me gain the Holy Grail."


	9. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Sakura grips the handle of the knife firmly and something in the back of her mind quietly registers a total lack of nervousness. She walks down the hallway quietly, as if she were only delivering a tray of tea and cookies. She comes to the door she had opened quite innocently only a few minutes ago, and sees again the sight that has provoked her into what she is about to do.

Spread out on the floor a few feet away are Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka, naked as babies, intertwined, fast asleep. She does not know how long they have been asleep. She had come home only a short while ago from an archery club retreat. It was interesting how she knew what to do as soon as she had seen this.

She begins to bend over Shirou's supine form. She admires his features for a few moments, blushing a bit. If only he hadn't gone and contaminated himself, she might take advantage of this opportunity. Instead, he'd gone and messed around with Rin. They'd fucked like rabbits all weekend, hadn't they? She would never accept him now; he didn't deserve her. All the work she had put in trying to woo her sempai for years, it was all for nothing.

There was no point in preparation. She simply drops onto him, slipping the knife deep into his belly. He awakes yelling, and that wakes Rin, who screams. Sakura stares into Shirou's eyes, smiling dumbly as a thick, wet warmth spreads between the two of them. His arms flail, and he looks fully helpless. At some point Sakura finds herself being tugged off of him by Rin; she is limp, and doesn't resist at all. The knife comes out of Shirou's wound; she still clutches it. Rin pushes Sakura aside as she tries to tend to Shirou.

Sakura sits, staring at the whole mess, the front of her blouse and shirt completely dyed scarlet red. She giggles amidst the chaos of crying and wailing.

She focuses on Rin, who had wrapped a bedsheet around herself. What a joke. And what a disgusting little bitch. Sakura supposes that she probably should have laid into Tohsaka first. Then Shirou wouldn't have been able to get help. No matter, though. It is Rin's time anyway. Sakura raises the blade and deftly chucks it at the other girl.

There is a sudden, flat sound of metal entering flesh, and then Rin collapses, and the room becomes quiet. Shirou, now losing his grasp on the world, looks at Sakura; their eyes connect for a single moment, and then he is gone. 


	10. A Routine Day

There's little to think about these days; Shirou finds it easier to talk to the people who come into the bar, but never about himself. His own life for the past few years has been a blank page, free from progress or accomplishment. Some people he knew in high school moved on to college, but it never appealed to him. Rin went to Europe. He had nobody to go home to, and he didn't really care all that much. So he stayed at the Copenhagen Bar and became a bartender.

That's where he is tonight, cleaning glasses with an old rag while the television drones on somewhere behind him. He stares into the glass in his hand absentmindedly. The Copenhagen is a nice place, not one of the more sleazy watering holes in the city. Tonight is just a slow Tuesday night, though. Ms. Hotaruzuka, the owner, is in the back, humming an old song and taking stock. Shirou notes in the back of his mind that she's been more personal toward him in the past few months, ever since the old head bartender died. She's invited him over to her place a few times, but he's never taken her up on the offer. He either says he's tired or that he's got plans. The second part is a lie.

It's about ten in the evening when they come in. Shirou looks up for a moment with a bland smile he gives to all the patrons, and waits for them to sit themselves where they like. He does a double-take at the man and woman.

She's absolutely beautiful, a tall blonde foreign woman. Her eyes are a captivating ruby red. And yet she is dressed modestly, in an old white sweater and a plain violet skirt. She seats herself at the bar a few stools down with her companion, who seems to be in all respects a normal Japanese twentysomething like Shirou himself. He wears a cocky smile and his piercing gray eyes study Shirou behind glasses he looks like he doesn't really need. The woman looks at least a few years older than the man.

Shirou comes over to them and takes their order. A plate of club sandwiches to split and a drink apiece, nothing out of the ordinary. As he gets the drinks and one of the other workers prepares the sandwiches, he makes small talk with the visitors. They are a couple in Fuyuki for a weekend getaway. The woman speaks with a bit of an accent, but Shirou has no idea of what her native tongue might be. The man runs a medical clinic, and his partner is a nurse there. They are married.

Shirou brings them their order and returns to his perch behind the bar. He watches them out of the corner of his eye. They look happy. They have a second round of drinks. The woman deftly tucks a lock of her hair behind her hair. Shirou can imagine himself looking into her deep eyes and kissing her softly as his hand caresses her head and neck. His breath hitches as he swallows that ever-present feeling of being lost. He has to keep that smile on.

Time passes as the couple talks and Shirou muses. Ms. Hotaruzuka comes out at one point and chats with the three of them. All too soon, the man and woman stand up to leave. They pay their bill and give Shirou a nice tip. Then, they make their way back out into the night, hand in hand. Shirou sighs deeply after the door closes.

He goes home like he always does. 


End file.
